Let’s be honest – I am a total sap when it comes to love stories. My favorite movie of all time is The Princess Bride. I almost exclusively watch romantic anime. I cry at weddings. And wedding scenes. And kissing scenes. I cry a lot.
Therefore, as an avid reader, my favorite way to get a good cryfest is in a great book. My only problem is, since I already have a lot of experience with romantic tales, I prefer to find ones that are a bit more unique. Young Adult fiction is giving a fresh take on the classic love story with a lot of recent releases. Here are some tried-and-true newer titles:
Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenoff
Nerd love is hard to resist, and Brezenoff does it justice. Lesh and Svetlana meet entirely by accident – a bicycle crash encounter in the middle of the night – despite going to the same school. He’s a metalhead who plays MMOs; she’s an artistic RPG dungeon master. They never had any reason to run into each other, but this chance meeting causes them to be constantly put in the other’s path and thoughts.
Guy in Real Life not only tells an adorable love story of two very different loners finding each other, but also brings up a lot of problematic aspects of the gaming community. It discusses prejudices of women in gaming as well as prejudices within separate nerd-dom factions, but without being snobby or pushy about it. The alternating points of view are essentially from Lesh and Svetlana, but also include their perspectives as MMO character and RPG storyteller. A fun read even if you don’t play MMOs or RPGs (though having prior knowledge of the two makes it a lot more interesting).
Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
Never have I read such a surprising and compelling love story that surrounds the struggles and strengths of disability. When I read Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper last year, it was my first real experience reading about cerebral palsy, so I couldn’t help imagining that Amy was actually Melody all grown up and ready to fall in love and take on the world.
Amy has CP and cannot walk very easily or talk at all. Her senior year of high school, she decides she wants to make friends and have her companions be fellow students instead of hired adults. While she gets along with all her helpers, Amy feels especially drawn to Matthew, a shy boy with severe obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Her whole life, she’s had a physical disorder, and now she wants to help this boy with a mental disorder who won’t help himself. They help each other through their hardest times, and slowly but surely fall in love.
There’s a crazy twist I definitely didn’t see coming, and it all humanizes Amy in a way I haven’t read before. I literally could barely put the book down, no matter what I was doing or who I was with, because I had to know what happened between these two characters discovering and accepting their flaws, as well as their love for each other.
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan
A sophomore release from Farizan, this novel was a far cry from the tone and setting of her debut, If You Could Be Mine.
The main character, Leila is afraid to come out to her Iranian family as a lesbian. When the new girl, Saskia, shows up in her life, Leila has a hard time keeping her sexuality a secret any longer.
Leila also decides that she needs to connect with others, and thus joins the tech crew for the school play. This change of pace not only helps her gain new friends that she previously judged without knowing, but also brings out a new passion in writing scripts and directing children.
This one is more than just a love story or a coming-out story; it is coming-of-age, coming into one’s own, finding hidden talents and finding the good in others you wouldn’t have talked to before. Leila grows up a lot in this novel, and with Saskia’s confusing signals and a rekindled childhood friendship, Tell Me Again is a light, refreshing lesbian romance that is accessible for a younger YA reader as well.
Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis
I know I’ve talked about this book before, but it’s always one of the first to come to mind when I think of books that impressed me with distinctiveness, especially in the YA genre. When the novel begins and shows a romantic relationship between the two mute slaves, you expect it to be little more than that. However, Amara’s ability to self-heal in order to protect Cilla from harm (compulsory at first, but voluntarily as her feelings grow for Cilla) showed a broader understanding of romantic relationships.
Amara hates Cilla at first, for being forced to protect her (just because you can heal yourself doesn’t mean the process of being pushed to the brink of death doesn’t hurt a lot), but her desires become more complicated as her relationship with the other slave ends and she starts to see Cilla as a person, not just royalty.
Otherbound’s love story is more subplot than in any of the others, but the blossoming affections are heartfelt and honest, a difficult task in many fantasy novels.
Like No Other by Una LaMarche
A set of star-crossed lovers living in modern-day Brooklyn, Like No Other features the forbidden romance between a Hasidic Jewish girl and a first-generation West Indian boy.
A hurricane forces the power off in a hospital, trapping Devorah and Jaxon in an elevator together, terrifying both of them – Devorah because she is breaking yichud (a law prohibiting an unmarried male and female from being alone together), and Jaxon because he is super awkward around pretty girls, which Devorah definitely is.
Through this fateful meeting, the two are inexplicably drawn to each other, and Jaxon is willing to do anything to guarantee a forever love with Devorah, despite her hesitancies regarding her family and faith.
Dramacon by Svetlana Chmakova
More nerd love, now in OEL manga form! Christie is attending her first anime convention in Artist Alley to sell the comic book she started with her boyfriend. Too bad he’s a total jerk who treats her like garbage the whole time – even her friends notice that the two are clearly having issues. He even abandons her to the chaos that is one’s first convention in order to flirt with other girls. Enter mysterious and adorable cosplayer Matt, who tries to stay hidden behind his dark shades but can’t seem to keep away from Christie.
A contemporary shojo set in the states, this is a trilogy that takes place over three different conventions. It brings in a lot of difficult topics, but also maintains the fun atmosphere of a convention and new love.
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
Set in Civil Rights-era Virginia, Talley’s debut novel takes place during the desegregation of schools. It is told from alternating perspectives – Sarah, one of the first black students to go to a previously all-white high school, and Linda, the daughter of a particularly vocal opponent of integration. The two are forced to work together on a school project, and they must face what they thought they knew about race and love.
Lies We Tell Ourselves makes a great crossover book, character-driven and literary, enjoyable and educational for both young readers and adults. This novel is bold and unique, tackling not only the racial prejudices of a formerly segregated Southern town, but also an unexpected blossoming romance between two young women in the late 1950s. It is a timely and important juxtaposition, with the current civil rights issues facing the United States today.
The Secret Sky: A Forbidden Love in Afghanistan by Atia Abawi
This novel is truly comparable to the tragic romance of Romeo & Juliet, though with a slightly more hopeful ending. A former NBC Afghanistan news correspondent writes with shocking insight and realism about two teenagers from different Afghan races who fall in love in a country controlled by the Taliban.
Fatima and Sami’s greatest transgression is being alone together, but even that is punishable by death. When they are caught alone by Sami’s cousin Rashid, it sparks cruelty from family members. The decision to run away to the city and get married causes them to be hunted by Taliban soldiers, who leave bloodshed in their wake.
The Secret Sky is a jarring depiction of country torn between factions, while not leaving out familial expectations or how following one’s heart can still create major repercussions for those you love. It sheds light on a culture that most Americans know little to nothing about, and its portrayal is both powerful and frightening. This one is not for the faint of heart, due to graphic violence.
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
After Ezra Faulkner has his knee shattered by a reckless driver, he loses both his future athletic career and all his friends, forcing him to hang out with the misfits. There he comes across Cassidy, the new girl he never looked twice at before. However, he soon learns that she is more complicated than he originally thought.
There are several connections to The Great Gatsby (of which I am a huge fan), plus some random mentions of Doctor Who and other nerd culture references. This novel also challenges the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope, making Cassidy a complex character that doesn’t live up to Ezra’s extreme standards.
More than anything, the story is about forgiveness of others and yourself, as well as moving forward in life after tragedy steers you in a new direction.
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
I saved the most well-known title for last, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an awesome one!
Eleanor & Park is the novel that shot Rainbow Rowell into greatness and made her a huge name in the YA genre. The two protagonists meet for the first time when Eleanor has to sit next to Park on the bus to school, and they barely pay any attention to each other. Park is the only Asian kid in his school and under pressure from his father to be more masculine, and Eleanor is overweight, underprivileged, and has her own (step)father issues in the form of abuse. Slowly, their love blossoms through comic books and mix tapes, and they fight through their personal struggles to be together.
I have yet to meet someone who didn’t absolutely love this book. It will give you hope and break your heart at the same time. Rowell illustrates the characters’ secrets and fears and desires so clearly that you become part of the story, and her stunning language will stay with you long after you’ve completed the book.
So here are a bunch of my favorite YA love stories I read recently. What are some of yours? Give me and other readers some recommendations in the comments!
—
Amber Midgett is assistant manager at Main Point Books and a graduate student in Publishing at Rosemont College. She grew up in North Carolina, and her ultimate fandoms are Harry Potter and Doctor Who. She could recommend a book to probably anyone. Find her at Letters from a [Future] Editor and on Twitter at @ambermidgett.
If you love YA, check out Lorraine’s exploration of the toxic archetypes of female characters in young adult or Amber’s list of great LGBTQ YA reads for the unfamiliar.
